We find in this text a new word introduced to man’s vocabulary – fear! It is a word that would soon swell in usage covering both the Old and New Testaments. Fear is mentioned in 385 verses of the Bible. Its other synonym, afraid, has 189 hits in the Bible. That tells us how pervasive the subject is. Its application covers fear of man, fear of evil, fear of the devil, and of course, the fear of God. Fear made its debut in the world because of the sin of Adam and Eve. So apart from being naked, fear was the other immediate result of their error.
So when we bring in the fear of the Lord, all other fears are uprooted. Those who have a reverential fear of the Lord are bold as a lion, and they are not intimidated by anything.
The Bible is not silent as to what fear does. It torments! “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”(I John 4:18 NKJV). Fear steals both courage and drive. “The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.” (Psalms 78:9 NKJV). In some instances too, fear kills. The world grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic. Yes, the virus is bad enough, but the associated fear is worse. Most times, fear kills faster than the source of it. The only way to deal with fear is by fear! This is what I mean: fear came into the world when man disobeyed the Lord. That in itself qualified as a lack of fear of the Lord. The absence of the fear of the Lord is the ground for all other forms of debilitating fear to take root. So when we bring in the fear of the Lord, all other fears are uprooted. Those who have a reverential fear of the Lord are bold as a lion, and they are not intimidated by anything.